In this June 14, 2018 photo, an exhausted Angelica Maria Alvarez takes a breather inside her home that was destroyed by Volcano of Fire eruption, in San Miguel Los Lotes, Guatemala. Ten days after the volcano blew, Alvarez continued looking for her husband, two daughters, and more than nine relatives in a house turned to twisted iron and hot ashes. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

In this June 13, 2018 photo, steam rises from the terrain in San Miguel Los Lotes, Guatemala devastated by an eruption of the Volcano of Fire, pictured in the background. On June 3, the mountain erupted with a fury not seen in more than a century. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

This June 19, 2018 photo shows a bare tree standing amid ash, rock and debris in the aftermath of the fast-moving avalanche of super-heated muck created by the Volcano of Fire eruption, in San Miguel Los Lotes, Guatemala. What was once a collection of verdant canyons, hillsides and farms now resembled a moonscape. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

This June 9, 2018 photo shows kitchen utensils covered in a coat of volcanic ash spewed by the Volcano of Fire, in San Miguel Los Lotes, Guatemala. Days after the devastating June 3 eruption, signs of that calm Sunday morning were evident, frozen in time under the ash. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

In this June 10, 2018 photo, residents walk towards the cemetery carrying the coffins that contain the remains of residents who died in the Volcano of Fire eruption, in San Juan Alotenango, Guatemala. The explosion devastated entire families living in tightly knit communities on the mountain's flanks. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

In this June 6, 2018 photo, residents look through family photos found on the ash covered ground outside a home destroyed by the Volcano of Fire eruption, in San Miguel Los Lotes, Guatemala. Two days after the Volcano of Fire June 3 eruption, the terrain was still too hot in many places for rescue crews to search for bodies or — increasingly unlikely with each passing day — survivors. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

AP photojournalist portrays volcano's devastation

In this June 13, 2018 photo, steam rises from the terrain in San Miguel Los Lotes, Guatemala devastated by an eruption of the Volcano of Fire, pictured in the background. On June 3, the mountain erupted with a fury not seen in more than a century. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

Rodrigo Abd

This June 19, 2018 photo shows a bare tree standing amid ash, rock and debris in the aftermath of the fast-moving avalanche of super-heated muck created by the Volcano of Fire eruption, in San Miguel Los Lotes, Guatemala. What was once a collection of verdant canyons, hillsides and farms now resembled a moonscape. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

Rodrigo Abd

This June 9, 2018 photo shows kitchen utensils covered in a coat of volcanic ash spewed by the Volcano of Fire, in San Miguel Los Lotes, Guatemala. Days after the devastating June 3 eruption, signs of that calm Sunday morning were evident, frozen in time under the ash. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

Rodrigo Abd

In this June 10, 2018 photo, residents walk towards the cemetery carrying the coffins that contain the remains of residents who died in the Volcano of Fire eruption, in San Juan Alotenango, Guatemala. The explosion devastated entire families living in tightly knit communities on the mountain's flanks. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

Rodrigo Abd

In this June 6, 2018 photo, residents look through family photos found on the ash covered ground outside a home destroyed by the Volcano of Fire eruption, in San Miguel Los Lotes, Guatemala. Two days after the Volcano of Fire June 3 eruption, the terrain was still too hot in many places for rescue crews to search for bodies or — increasingly unlikely with each passing day — survivors. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

In this June 14, 2018 photo, an exhausted Angelica Maria Alvarez takes a breather inside her home that was destroyed by Volcano of Fire eruption, in San Miguel Los Lotes, Guatemala. Ten days after the volcano blew, Alvarez continued looking for her husband, two daughters, and more than nine relatives in a house turned to twisted iron and hot ashes. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

Rodrigo Abd

SAN MIGUEL LOS LOTES, Guatemala (AP) — They call it the Volcano of Fire, one of the most active volcanoes in the Americas, frequently spewing ash and gas across a swath of Guatemala west of the capital. On June 3, the mountain erupted with a fury not seen in more than a century, exploding with 1,300-degree molten rocks and black clouds of ash that smothered villages and buried at least 194 people alive. An additional 234 are missing.

Rodrigo Abd was among the Associated Press photojournalists who arrived on the scene. As he covered the news, he considered how to capture the sweep of the volcano's destructive power and the magnitude of the human drama that unfolded in minutes. How to document the tragedy — of lives and a landscape obliterated — on a piece of 35mm film?

Abd decided that the panoramic format was necessary to tell this story of annihilation. Black and white film would best show ash-encased villages such as San Miguel Los Lotes.

Peering through his lens, and through clouds of hot ash, he found Elmer Vazquez searching for his wife and five children where he thought the family home had been. The farmer looked destroyed as he climbed into pits dug by a backhoe whenever he saw human remains or bits of torn clothing that could have belonged to his family.

In a makeshift morgue, dozens of victims' bodies wrapped in white bags formed a kind of silent corridor that ended with two exhausted forensic doctors taking a break after days and nights of continuous work.

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Outside the morgue, anxious relatives waited for the results of DNA tests to see if their loved ones were among those inside, while others prepared to hold dignified burials in the town cemetery.

In San Miguel Los Lotes, the drama did not end in those first days. Ten days after the volcano blew, Angelica Maria Alvarez continued looking for her husband, two daughters and more than nine relatives in a house turned to twisted iron and hot ash.

Six months after what is now being called "The Colossus," relatives still seek missing family members by their own means, as the government and relief agencies have ended their search for the dead.

AS calls continue to be made for a review of the country’s colo­nial-era sedi­tion leg­is­la­tion, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley says the age of the Sedition Act is not the problem. Rowley, who was speaking at the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service’s Independence Day celebrations at the Police Administration Building in Port of Spain yesterday, questioned whether other old laws should be thrown out as well.

THE return of the Canine Unit, the display of new national security technology and a disobedient horse were the highlights of yesterday’s 57th annual ­Independence Day parade at the Queen’s Park Savannah, Port of Spain.

THE United National Congress (UNC) is forging ahead for change. If residents’ feelings in the Tabaquite constituency are a gauge to go on, then change may be welcome. The area’s Member of Parliament, Surujrattan Rambachan, recently announced that he will not be returning to electoral politics.

PRESIDENT of the Republic Paula-Mae Weekes was absent from the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service’s Independence Day celebrations yesterday. Instead, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley moved the toast to the nation with members of the Police Service in Weekes’ place.